March 30, 2012

When it comes to architectural style, there is no shortage of options in Malibu’s luxury residential real estate market. Southern California architect John Lautner designed some of the most intriguing luxury homes in Malibu. Lautner’s homes have been featured in numerous exhibitions, countless publications, and in several movies, including the James Bond and Die Hard films. Buildings designed by Lautner are best distinguished by the bold “space-age” geometry that they possess. Lautner strived to integrate “the relationship of the human being to space and of space to nature” into all of his architectural designs.

The Segel Residence, located at 22426 Pacific Coast Highway, was built in 1979 for Joann and Gilbert Segel. This Carbon Beach luxury home has had several famous owners, including Courtney Cox and David Arquette. The home was purchased by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in 2007. The 5,500-square-foot home features exposed concrete, natural wood, skylights, a curved roofline and a pool. Lautner viewed the Segel Residence as a breakthrough, describing it as a “space that felt safe and secure, but still opened up to the changing scenery outside”.

In 1983, the Beyer Residence was built for Stanley and Shirlin Beyer. Stanley Beyer was the former head of a company that owned Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company. The exterior of the home features beige stucco and blonde wood; the ocean side of the home is a wall of glass windows. At an exhibit that featured Lautner’s architecture, the home was described as straddling “a rocky point on the Malibu shore, following the form of the rock pools, waves, or clouds to shape space, bringing a fixed and sheltering room into conversation with mobile, ever-changing vistas of sea and cloud.” The 12,000-square-foot home is perched above the beach at 6515 Point Lechuza in Malibu.